Small mistake in the description of the GD04 case though. I installed one for a friend last week, it doesn't use a slim optical drive. It uses a regular optical drive, and you stick a supplied plate to the front of the optical drive, no modifications to the drive necessary. I guess the drive is about a quarter of an inch more towards the back of the case.

A lever behind the button below the slot can be moved about half and inch to the left or right so when you press on the outside button, the lever activates the button on the optical drive.

Small mistake in the description of the GD04 case though. I installed one for a friend last week, it doesn't use a slim optical drive. It uses a regular optical drive, and you stick a supplied plate to the front of the optical drive, no modifications to the drive necessary. I guess the drive is about a quarter of an inch more towards the back of the case.

A lever behind the button below the slot can be moved about half and inch to the left or right so when you press on the outside button, the lever activates the button on the optical drive.

ooops! my bad. I examined the GD04 and built a system in it a couple months ago.... forgot the details. All corrected.

This case seems to have great potential as a gaming-capable HTPC thanks to the fan on the left side (when paired with a PSU that draws air from below) to feed the vid card.

Did you happen to take that GTX260 for a spin in that case, Lawrence? If so, can you confirm that VGA temps were good (hopefully with the fan ramping up similarly or a bit less than in a typical ATX case under load)?

I don't like the DVD overhanging the CPU. I have used low profile coolers in a couple of different HTPC builds, and they work pretty well when paired with 65w CPUs, but if you ever want to use the HTPC for encoding video or for gaming them a higher end CPU is required, and a also a bigger cooler. This case seems designed to meet the latter two needs with its accommodations for full sized gfx cards. If that is the case, then limiting the CPU cooling was a bad decision. To me, this case is stuck in a no mans zone. Big enough to make you want to build a more powerful system, yet limited in CPU. And if you are going to build a straight up HTPC with lower specs, then the case is overkill.

I don't like the DVD overhanging the CPU. I have used low profile coolers in a couple of different HTPC builds, and they work pretty well when paired with 65w CPUs, but if you ever want to use the HTPC for encoding video or for gaming them a higher end CPU is required, and a also a bigger cooler. This case seems designed to meet the latter two needs with its accommodations for full sized gfx cards. If that is the case, then limiting the CPU cooling was a bad decision. To me, this case is stuck in a no mans zone. Big enough to make you want to build a more powerful system, yet limited in CPU. And if you are going to build a straight up HTPC with lower specs, then the case is overkill.

But only if an in-case optical drive is mandatory. Use an external OD, and the case is just about ideal for a powerful HTPC.

I think the reviewer missed a "Pro" of the case. The depth. My biggest beef with HTPC cases have always been the depth. Height? No problem. My receiver is taller. Depth? I had a nice open rack that I used to use and my HTPC stuck out of it because that was as far back as it would go. This case is less than 13" deep, so it would fit right in.

But only if an in-case optical drive is mandatory. Use an external OD, and the case is just about ideal for a powerful HTPC.

But again, use of an external optical drive defeats the purpose of a case that fits in nicely with a stack of A/V equipment. The external optical drive will be out of place, unless you keep it in a drawer and only plug it in when you need it. Hardy convenient. Don't get me wrong. I agree that this case has a lot going for it. But it is still flawed, and could use some re-design. It could be made taller, to accommodate either a taller CPU under the optical drive, or make it just a little bit deeper. Maybe by about 2 inches? Or swap the locations of the optical bay and the HDD bay. Perhaps turn the HDD bay sideways, if that would make it shorter.

I think the reviewer missed a "Pro" of the case. The depth. My biggest beef with HTPC cases have always been the depth. Height? No problem. My receiver is taller. Depth? I had a nice open rack that I used to use and my HTPC stuck out of it because that was as far back as it would go. This case is less than 13" deep, so it would fit right in.

from page 2 of the review:

Quote:

The GD05's front facia is almost the same size as that of the now-classic Antec Fusion or NSK2480. It's a centimeter taller (14cm vs 15cm) but the same 44cm width. Those seeking to match their traditional-look A/V components should find the familar look comforting. The GD05's depth (from front to back) is shorter than the majority of HTPC cases, however, measuring just 32.5cm. The aforementioned Fusion, in contrast, 41.4cm, is nearly 9cm or 3.5" deeper.

This difference is significant: The total volume of the GD05 is about 21.5 liters, compared to 25.8 liters for the Antec Fusion/NSK2480 â€” or the 31 liters of Silverstone own "full size" HTPC cases such as the GD01 or LC17. In fact, the overall size is close to the 19.2 liters of Antec's much lower profile but considerably deeper Antec NSK1480. Unlike the slim NSK1480, however, the GD05 has the cooling and noise benefit of three 12cm fans; the former case is only tall enough to accommodate 8cm case fans.

(caption to photo): Note the relatively shallow 13" depth. This can be very useful to fit into the often-shallow shelves of cabinets made to house typical A/V gear.

But if you refer to the pros & cons points on the last page -- the shallow depth has been added.

But again, use of an external optical drive defeats the purpose of a case that fits in nicely with a stack of A/V equipment. The external optical drive will be out of place, unless you keep it in a drawer and only plug it in when you need it. Hardy convenient. Don't get me wrong. I agree that this case has a lot going for it. But it is still flawed, and could use some re-design. It could be made taller, to accommodate either a taller CPU under the optical drive, or make it just a little bit deeper. Maybe by about 2 inches? Or swap the locations of the optical bay and the HDD bay. Perhaps turn the HDD bay sideways, if that would make it shorter.

Well, we did say it was the one flaw we could criticize.

Personally, I don't need an OD in my HTPC. Almost everything I watch/play is digital media, and for the rare times that I need it (mostly to rip CDs -- which can actually be done on a different PC and the files transferred via network), an external OD is on its side next to the PC in the shelf, permanently connected via USB.

I re-scanned the article, but may have missed it - what's the max CPU cooler height allowed if one uses an optical drive? If SPCR still has the case, a measurement from CPU heat spreader to the bottom of the optical drive would be much appreciated.

But only if an in-case optical drive is mandatory. Use an external OD, and the case is just about ideal for a powerful HTPC.

But again, use of an external optical drive defeats the purpose of a case that fits in nicely with a stack of A/V equipment. The external optical drive will be out of place, unless you keep it in a drawer and only plug it in when you need it. Hardy convenient. Don't get me wrong. I agree that this case has a lot going for it. But it is still flawed, and could use some re-design. It could be made taller, to accommodate either a taller CPU under the optical drive, or make it just a little bit deeper. Maybe by about 2 inches? Or swap the locations of the optical bay and the HDD bay. Perhaps turn the HDD bay sideways, if that would make it shorter.

I have this case and I use slim optical drive, After some cutting in the optical drive tray I was able to fit a Ninja Mini Heatsink in this case.

One flaw with this case is that the dustfilters are inside the case which makes them hard to clean. I chose to cut the fan grids and place the dust filters on the outside of the case instead.

Our only real complaint is the optical drive that overhangs the CPU socket and interferes with larger CPU coolers, but possible solutions are less than ideal. The obvious fixes include making the case deeper, using a slim optical drive, or putting a slim optical drive on its side, which would displace one of the 120 mm fans.

Couldn't the optical drive be on the left side, above the PSU? Too wide? HDD bay on the front right and lots of room around the CPU.

I have a GD02 that has the same layout (no 12cm fans though) and just bought an external optical drive and a Noctua C12P SE14. I haven't installed the Noctua yet, but I assume it would be a good cooler for the GD04/05 as well, if you don't have an internal optical.

Did you happen to take that GTX260 for a spin in that case, Lawrence? If so, can you confirm that VGA temps were good (hopefully with the fan ramping up similarly or a bit less than in a typical ATX case under load)?

I only checked for clearance. That particular GTX 260 (Asus) did fairly well in our P182 test rig with only one 500rpm exhaust fan. I would assume it wouldn't be much worse thermally/acoustically in the Grandia with 3 x 120mm fans blowing into the system.

Jay_S wrote:

I re-scanned the article, but may have missed it - what's the max CPU cooler height allowed if one uses an optical drive?

Since the 780G chipset was released 2 years ago, you have been able to build relatively small, low-power, and good value HTPCs.
This large case, suitable for a combined htpc/gaming system, wouldn't have been particularly interesting even then. There were others like it.
Two years later, the hardware involved in an HTPC is trivial. Even mobile phones are almost at the required level. For non-gaming HTPC use, pico/mini-itx or better, OEM systems like the Dell Zino are much better choices.

I got this case just before Christmas - it was the only matx case I could find that would fit in the cabinet I had. The only other option was putting in a Lian Li case sideways... The depth was the single reason I bought this case, albeit that everything else seemed good about it.

I think there is a gap in the market, or at least there was a few months ago. I could have gone mini-itx, but at the time I bought there just didn't seem to be any decent itx boards about in the UK. There was the zotac board, but only the one that didn't wake up from S3 sleep with USB. and others were in short supply. I think the big boys are jumping on the mini-itx bandwagon (hurrah for choice and availability!) so maybe the place for this case will be shortlived.

But I am happy with the case. There is plenty of room inside for airflow and it means even the stock CPU cooler is quiet enough. Overall it is whisper quiet and the only effort I have put into that is choosing a sensible-ish CPU (Athlon II X2) and a pico PSU. And I really do struggle to hear it's on, even with my head right next to it.

I do wonder whether squishing everything into a Mini-itx case would have meant airflow would have been less and things would have been noisier. But hey, I've never built a mini-itx build, so that is an entirely uninformed assumption on my behalf! Maybe with integrated graphics and a low-ish power CPU, it would have been fine in a mini-itx box.... (I feel the need for a comparison article )

This might be moot considering the Big Shuriken fits. But I wonder how the NT01 would perform.

According to Silverstone it can cool a 65 watter passively. With the introduction of the Clarkdales, which are very viable in an HPTC, it could probably be used in conjunction with the NT01 in passive cooling.

Just built my first HTPC with a GD04 and overall I like it but had a couple of issues.

-The motherboard would not fit until I removed the right vented expansion slot cover (the one furthest from the power supply). I gently "forced" it back in after the motherboard was installed. I checked my motherboard and it's perfectly square and flat.

-The motherboard mounting posts are not on a level plane, about an 1/8 inch higher on the right side. Had to flex the board just a little more than I'm comfortable with.

-The middle foot is 1/16 inch off my desk. Maybe the way it's supposed to be or a QC issue?

-The fans are loud, much louder than the Scythe S-Flex SFF21E that I used in my main computer.

Thanks for the tip on where to put the cables, underneath the optical drive along the front of the case worked perfectly. I see in your review you used all four rubber feet on the PSU. I did this also but a closer read of the manual shows two are for the top of the PSU. See the section at the end of the manual "Dual purpose space" (page 28 in the GD04 manual).

I would definitely choose this case again, well priced, looks great, no LCD, small footprint and no included PSU made it exactly what I was looking for. A few of what I assume are quality control issues are the only things keeping the GD04 from being the perfect HTPC case.

-The motherboard mounting posts are not on a level plane, about an 1/8 inch higher on the right side. Had to flex the board just a little more than I'm comfortable with.

there is something wrong with the install there, the standoff mounting posts for the motherboard should never be uneven.

it's possible that you have a screw turned all the way in to an unused mounting post, underneath the mb, or there is an unused mounting post that is making contact with some high portion of the motherboard, on the bottom.

you should completely disassemble the build, and make sure that all of the mounting posts line up correctly with open screw holes... no unused posts.

Thanks for the input but totally not the issue. Only one extra mounting post was needed to match my motherboard, the remaining seven are factory installed. and you are correct, "standoff mounting posts for the motherboard should never be uneven" and expansion slot covers shouldn't get in the way of installing a motherboard either.

I must have gotten a tweaked unit.

This was my first HTPC build but far from my first computer build. If my memory is correct my first build was a little over twenty years ago with a IBM board, an Cyrix chip and a whole lot of jumpers...

danimal wrote:

there is something wrong with the install there, the standoff mounting posts for the motherboard should never be uneven.

it's possible that you have a screw turned all the way in to an unused mounting post, underneath the mb, or there is an unused mounting post that is making contact with some high portion of the motherboard, on the bottom.

you should completely disassemble the build, and make sure that all of the mounting posts line up correctly with open screw holes... no unused posts.

Last edited by maitaijim on Sun Mar 28, 2010 8:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

Thanks for the input but totally not the issue. Only one extra mounting post was needed to match my motherboard, the remaining seven are factory installed. and you are correct, "standoff mounting posts for the motherboard should never be uneven" and expansion slot covers shouldn't get in the way of installing a motherboard either.

I must have gotten a tweaked unit.

you mean, like the case is somehow warped or twisted? does the case rock around when it's sitting on the shelf? when you first laid the motherboard into the case, did it rest flat on all of the standoffs?

another possibility might be that a standoff or two was not screwed all the way down into the case, or the standoff(s) were different heights.

The motherboard teeter tottered a little as if the center column of standoffs is taller/higher. The standoffs all measured the same length, I'm guessing the bottom metal sheet is slightly off, buckled, warped, whatever. Pointing out once again that the the foot in the middle of the unit does not make contact.

If I'm not mistaken the seven installed standoff are glued in. Someone with an unassembled unit will need to confirm this.

I would be great if someone could also report if they had troubles with the expansion slot covers. Specifically the one on the right furthest from the PSU.

Should I have sent it back, probably. Would I recommend or purchase this case again, definitely. I don't want to scare anyone off from getting this caes. It looks sweet, will fit anywhere an A/V receiver would and it has great ventilation/cooling. The fans could be quieter but I always expect to replace stock fans. My current solution is running it with only one fan and have not noticed a single degree of difference in CPU temperature. This might not be the case once summer weather gets here but this is Seattle I won't have to worry about that until mid July.

Couldn't the optical drive be on the left side, above the PSU? Too wide? HDD bay on the front right and lots of room around the CPU.

I agree with you, this would be the best solution to make the best of the case.
The width isn't an issue since both the PSU and the optical drive have the same width, height over the PSU would be more of a concern, but I doubt that it's more than a couple of mm that they might increase the height (if any).

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